This mini episode teaches you the two meanings of the phrase “used to.”
Episode 141 of the Everybody ESL podcast teaches you the two meanings of the phrase “used to.” You will learn to understand them and make sentences using them. Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
The topic for this episode was suggested by Micah. And Micah wanted to know more about used to. Used to. Have you ever seen this phrase before? Used to? It is spelled u-s-e-d t-o. Used to. But we usually pronounce it “yoose-ta.” “Yoose-ta.” Used to (or “yoose-ta”) has two very different meanings. The first meaning of used to (or “yoose-ta”) is “This was true in the past, but it is not true now. It was true, but it is no longer true.”
For example, I could say, “I used to live in Washington, DC.” I used to live in Washington, DC. This means “I lived in Washington, DC, in the past, but I do not live there now. I don't live there anymore.” Or I could say, “I used to live in Washington, DC, but now I live in Seattle.” I used to live in Washington, DC, but now I live in Seattle. So here used to means “It was true in the past, but it is not true now.”
The other meaning of used to is very different. It means something completely different. It means “familiar with something or accustomed to something.”
For example, “I am used to living in Seattle.” That means “I'm familiar with living in Seattle. I'm comfortable living in Seattle. I know all about living in Seattle.” If I am used to living in Seattle, that means “Living in Seattle is familiar to me. I know it well. I have become accustomed to it. It does not feel strange or unusual to me. Instead, I am familiar with it.” I'm used to it.
Notice that one meaning of used to works with verbs. These are sentences like “I used to live in Washington, DC, but now I live in Seattle.” I used to live there.
I could also say, “I used to work downtown.” Or “I used to study Italian.” Or “I used to like pizza.”
So you see, this meaning of used to always works with verbs. This is the used to that means “it was true in the past, but it's not true now.”
The other meaning of used to—the one that means “familiar with or accustomed to something”— works with nouns. These are sentences like “I am used to living in Seattle.” In that sentence, living is a noun. (Do you remember when we talked about gerunds before? These are forms of verbs that work like nouns.)
I could also say, “I'm used to my new job.” Or “I'm used to this restaurant. I know everything about it.” Or “When I first moved to this neighborhood, it seemed a little bit strange. But now I'm used to it.”
So with one meaning of used to we use verbs, and with the other meaning of used to we use nouns.
So now you know these two very different ways to use used to (or “yoose-ta”). Used to is a very common phrase. You will hear it often. You will read it often. And I think it's something you should be used to. In other words, I think it's something you should be familiar with. You should learn how to recognize it, how to understand it, and how to use it.
Thanks, Micah, for suggesting this interesting, useful topic.